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Monthly fluorescence parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) components for Shark River Slough, Taylor Slough, and Florida Bay, Everglades National Park (FCE LTER), Florida, USA, April 2011 - ongoing

Dissolved organic matter plays an important role in biogeochemical processes in aquatic environments such as elemental cycling, microbial loop energetics, and the transport of materials across landscapes. Since most of N (> 90%) and P (around 90%) is in the organic form in the oligotrophic subtropical Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE), study of the source and dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ecosystem is crucial for the better understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. FCE are composed of estuaries with distinct regions with different biogeochemical processes. Freshwater marsh primarily receives terrestrial input and local autochthonous vegetation production. Mangrove ecotone, nevertheless, is affected by the tidal contributions from Florida Bay and local mangrove production. Florida Bay (FB) is a wedge-shaped shallow oligotrophic estuary which lays south of the Everglades, the bottom of which is covered with a dense biomass of seagrass. The sources of both freshwater and nutrients in FCE are difficult to quantify, owing to the non-point source nature of runoff from the Everglades and the dendritic cross channels in the mangroves. Furthermore, the combination of multiple DOM sources (freshwater marsh vegetation, mangroves, phytoplankton, seagrass, etc.), and the potential seasonal variability of their relative contribution, along with the history of (photo)chemical and microbial diagenetic processing, and complex advective circulation, makes the study of DOM dynamics in FCE particularly difficult using standard schemes of estuarine ecology. Quantitative information of DOM is very useful to investigate the biogeochemical cycling of DOM to a certain degree, however, qualitative information is necessary to better understand the source and dynamics of DOM. Since fluorescence spectroscopic techniques are very sensitive, quick and simple, they have been applied to investigate the fate of DOM in estuaries. Here, we have quantified a series of